Leilehua blanks Waianae to make states

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POSTED: Sunday, November 09, 2008

Andrew Manley and his Leilehua teammates will get a chance to defend their state championship after all.

The junior quarterback picked apart Waianae, throwing for 352 yards and three touchdowns as the fifth-ranked Mules routed the No. 9 Seariders 32-0 last night to claim the Oahu Interscholastic Association's third and final berth in the upcoming state tournament.

A jam-packed Hugh Yoshida Stadium crowd saw the Mules (9-2) bounce back from last week's stunning semifinal loss to Farrington. And Waianae (5-6) defeated the Mules at home just a month ago.

“;We knew that we wanted to be with each other for the next couple of weeks,”; Manley said. “;Our coaches did a great job preparing us for this week and now we get to play again.”;

Leilehua jumped all over Waianae early and often, putting the game away in the first half. Manley hooked up with Cheves Aberilla-Ramento for touchdown passes of 6 and 95 yards in the first quarter, and then finished the half with a 75-yard screen pass to Matt Reyes for a touchdown that put the Mules up 22-0 at halftime.

“;Any time you face a running team like (Waianae), it's important to get on them early,”; Leilehua coach Nolan Tokuda said. “;We were able to execute early on and take advantage of some mistakes.”;

Sixteen of the Mules' 22 points came off turnovers, as the Seariders fumbled the ball three times and were intercepted once in the first half.

“;When we jumped on them early, you could see their spirit go down,”; Manley said.

Leilehua controlled the first half in the previous game between the two, but was dominated at the line of scrimmage in the second half.

That wasn't the case last night, as the Mules shut down Waianae's rushing tandem of Danny Kekoanui and Johnathan Ligsay. The two combined for more than 250 yards and four touchdowns in Waianae's earlier win, but were held to only 44 yards on this night.

“;We just played assignment football on defense,”; Tokuda said.

Aberilla-Ramento finished with 132 receiving yards and Rico Newman added five catches for 95 yards. He also scored on a 2-yard run on the second play of the fourth quarter.

Waianae finished with 103 yards of total offense . Quarterbacks Keoni Naiperala-Rose and Maurice Simpson combined to go 6-for-22 for 89 yards and a pick.

The Mules will begin defense of their state title in 12 days when they travel to Maui to take on Maui Interscholastic League champion Baldwin on Nov. 21 in the first round.